Myimbarr Community Park covers an expanse of 33 hectares and will include five sporting fields and amenities together with salt and freshwater wetlands. This park is one of the most significant projects in the region and when complete will become an area of great ecological, scientific and recreational significance. The site is located in Shellharbour generally bounded by Shellharbour Road to the east and Wattle Road to the south.
Over $8 million has been spent creating the freshwater and saltwater wetlands and a further $5 million of Section 94 funds (developer contributions) have been allocated for the development of the sporting facility component of the Park.
The Wetlands project was a joint venture between Landcom and the Shell Cove development partners Australand and Shellharbour City Council, and is an integral part of the consent conditions for the long-awaited Shell Cove boatharbour and marina project.
It includes a 1.5 hectare saltmarsh, a tidal lagoon connected to the sea via Tongarra Creek and 11.5 hectares of freshwater wetlands containing 9 deep ponds and a series of shallow wetland areas.
The construction of the wetlands was an extremely complex process involving detailed scientific studies and planning, the excavation of almost 500,000 cubic metres of soil including 50,000 cubic metres of potential acid sulphate soils and the planting of 250,000 native plants.
The wetlands are designed as compensation for a degraded swamp which will be lost when the boatharbour is built on land south of Shellharbour Village. As part of the consent conditions laid down by the Minister for Urban Affairs and Planning, following a Commission of Inquiry into the boatharbour and marina project in 1997, the wetlands must be completed for 12 months before construction of the boatharbour can start to allow the Myimbarr ecosystem to establish. The completion of the Myimbarr Wetlands is an important milestone in the Shell Cove project.
The wetlands will also provide valuable filtering and “water polishing” for stormwater run-off from Landcom’s 260-hectare Flinders residential area upstream, improving the quality of the water flowing into Tongarra Creek.